Tool for jewel-setters.



F. C. WIDMANN. TooL FOR JEWEL SETTERS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5. 1908.

Patented Nov. so, i909.

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FRANK o. WIDMANN, or CLEVELAND, OHIO,

TOOL FOR JEWEL-SETTERS.

To all/whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRANK C. VIDMANN. a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tools for Jewel- Setters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had t o the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to tools for jewelers, the same being especially designed for use in the setting of jewels in locke'ts or similar devices. Heretofore, as far as I am aware, it has been the cust-om to back up the rear side of the device that is to receive the setting with some plastic composition which will harden, thus affording a rigid support during the setting operation, it being understood that unless a rigid support is thus pro- Vvided the comparatively thin metal of the locket will be sprung or bent out of shape. This operation of providing a plastic bed for each article is necessarily slow, tedious and expensive.

The object of my present invention is to provide a tool which is adapted to back up a locket or similar device at any point on the same where a jewel is to be set.

In the drawing forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention with the jaws open; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tool shown in Fig. 1*; Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section taken through Fig. 1 in the plane of the paper upon which the drawing is made, the tool holding a portion of a` locket and being arranged for setting a jewel at the center thereof; Fig. l is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the upper end of the tool, the same being modified for setting a jewel near the edge of the locket; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail that is shown in Fig. 1.

Taking up a more detailed description by the use of reference characters, 1 represents the handle of a tool, through the center of which there is a bore into which tits a tubular member 2, the same being enlarged at its upper end so as to form shoulders at 3 against which the end of the handle abuts. At the opposite end of the handle, the member 2 is screw threaded to receive a nut 4f, having a ilange for engaging with the adjacent end of the tool handle, said handle being thus secured between the shoulder 3 and the flange on the nut 11. Beyond the shoulder 3 the Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 5, 1908.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909. Serial No. 447,153.

member 2 is expanded into what may be termed a hollow head 5, having slots at G, and a pair of outwardly extending lugs 7 for each of said slots, the lugs being on opposite sides of the respective slots and receiving between them the jaws 8, said jaws being pivoted between the lugs, as shown. The free ends of the jaws 8 are notched at 9 in order to grasp the edge of the disk 10 which, as shown, forms one portion of a locket. By forcing together the ends of the jaws 8 the edge of the disk is securely held within the notches 9, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.. For the purpose of moving the arms 8, each of the latter is formed about its pivot point in the shape of a disk having a series of radial notches, thus making of the disk a segment of a gear. Cooperating with the teeth of this gear segment are annular beads or ridges 12 on the outer portion of a head 13 of a tubular member let, said member being screw threaded within the outer member 2, and carrying on its lower end a milled head 15 by means of which the tubular member 111 may be turned and screwed back and forth. As the said member is thus turned and moved, the head 13 acts upon the gear segment of the arms and swings the latter in and out, dependent upon the direction of mot-ion of the said member. By this means, therefore, the disk 10 may be securely clamped between the ends of the jaws 8.

In order to support the disk during the` operation of setting a jewel therein, I thread the interior of the member 14tat its upper end, and screw into this portion of said member a center rod 1G, said rod extending throughout the length of and beyond the member 14; and carrying on its outer end a milled nut 17. By turning the rod 16, its upper end may be caused to approach or recede from the disk 10. At its upper end the post 16 is expanded into a head 18 having a central socket in which I mount a short cylindrical member 19, in the upper end of which I form a circular depression, as shown in Fig. 3. In this depression I place the apex of a funnel shaped support 20, the edges or rim of which is adapted to bear against the disk or locket about the aperture into which the jewel is to be set. Thus in Fig. 3, the aws 8 have grasped the edge of the locket casing, and the post 1G has been screwed inwardly until the support 20 has contacted with the locket all about the rim of the hole into which the jewel is to be set. It sometimes happens that the support 20 must adapt itself to a more or less irregular surface, and for that reason the same is made in the conical shape shown, with the apex resting in the depression in the member 19, by which construction the support is enabled to rock and automatically adjust itself to the locket.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 1, the locket 1() is provided with apertures near its outer edge for the reception of jewels. The tool as shown in Fig. 3 is adapted simply for the setting of stones at the center of the locket, and, in order to serve as a backing for the setting of stones near the edge, it is modified by removing the member 19 and substituting therefor the device shown in Fig. 5, which consists of a cylindrical shank 21 that is adapted to fit wit-hin the socketof the head 1S on the rod 16, and an arm that is secured to the shank so as to project at substantially right angles thereto. This arm is slightly wedge shaped in vertical section soy as to lit a dovetailed groove in a sliding block 23, said block being provided on its upper face with a circular depression 2/-1 to receive the conical support 20 hereinbefore described, the same being shown in Fig. et. As will be seen, the block 2? may be moved back and forth on the arm so as to bring the support 2O the proper distance from the center of the locket, and the arm may also be swung about so as to bring the support opposite any aperture for a setting. Having thus adjusted the arm 22 and the block 23 thereon so as to bring the support 2O into proper position opposite an aperture, the nut 17 and the rod 1G may be turned so as to force the support 20 against the locket, the circular depression 241 and the rounded apex of the support permitting the latter to tilt so as to adjust itself to any irregularities in the surface of the locket.

The details herein shown and described may be modified more or less without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I desire it to be understood that the following claims are not intended to be limited to such details any further than is rendered necessary by the specific terms that 1 have employed therein. The term disk is used in the claims in a generic sense and is intended to include lockets, watch-charms, and cases, and all articles of a similar nature.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. 1n a tool of the character described, the combination with a tubular member, of clamping jaws pivoted to said member, a second member mounted for longitudinal movement within the tubular member, means on the second member and on the jaws for swinging the latter as the said second member is moved back and forth within the tubular member whereby the jaws are moved to grasp and release the edge of a disk, a support for a disk, and means for moving the support against the back of the disk to brace the latter during the operation of setting a jewel.

2. In a tool of the character described, the combination with a tubular member that is threaded on its interior, of clamping jaws pivoted to said member, a second member screw threaded within the tubular member, means on the second member and on the jaws for swinging the latter as the said second member is turned within the tubular f member whereby the jaws are adapted to grasp the edge of a disk, a support for the disk, and means for moving the support against the back of the disk to brace the latter during the opeation of setting a jewel.

3. In a tool. of the character described, the combination with a tubular member, of clamping aws pivoted to said member, the ends of said jaws being notched in=order to receive the edge of a disk which is to be clamped between the jaws, said jaws being also provided with a series of teeth adjacent their pivots, said teeth forming a gear segment, a second tubular member Vscrew threaded within the first tubular member7 said second member having a series of ridges engaging with the teeth on the said jaws whereby by screwing back and forth the seeond tubular member the said are opened or closed, and means carried byi the second tubular member for supporting the back of a disk during the operation of setting a jewel therein.

L1. r1`he combination with a tubular member, of a plurality' of clamping jaws pivoted to said member, said jaws being adapted to grasp the edge of a disk, means longitudinallyi movable within the said tubular member, connections between said means and the clamping jaws whereby the latter are opened and closed as the said means is moved back and forth, a center post eX- tending through the said means, a support carried by the said center post, and means for pressing said support against the back of the disk in order to brace the latter during the operation of setting a ewel therein.

5. 1n a tool of the character described, the combination with a tubular member, of a series of gripping jaws pivoted thereto, said jaws being adapted to grasp the edge of a disk, a second tubular member screw-threaded within the first tubular member and adapted to be screwed back and forth therein, means on the second tubular member for engaging with the clamping jaws for turning the latter so as to clamp the disk, a center' post screw threaded within the second tubular member and adapted to be screwed back and forth therein, and a support carried by the said center' post and that n is adapted to be forced by the latter against the back of the disk to brace the same during the operation of setting a jewel in the disk. v j l 6. In a tool of the character described, the combination with a tubular member, of a plurality of clamping jaws pivoted thereto, said jaws being adapted to grip the edge of adisk, of means for causing said jaws to grip the said disk, a funnel-shaped support for the back of the disk, means having a circular recess into which the apex of the funnel-shaped support is adapted to rest, and mechanism for forcing the latter means toward the disk whereby the supportis pressed against the disk so as to brace the latter during the operat-ion of setting a jewel in the disk.

7. The combination of a series of gripping jaws, of means to which said jaws are pivoted, means for opening and closing said jaws to cause the latter to clamp or release a disk, an adjustable member at the rear of the disk and between the clamping jaws, said member having a circular depression, and a funnel-shaped support for the disk having its apex resting in said depression, and means for forcing the rim of said snpport against the disk in order to brace the latter during the operation of settinO a jewel in the disk.

8. .ln a tool of the character described, the combination with a tubular member, of a series of clamping jaws pivoted to said member, said jaws being adapted to grasp the edge of a disk, of a second tubular member screw-threaded within the first tubular member, gear teeth on the said jaws, ridges forming teeth on said second tubular member, said teeth being in engagement whereby, when the second tubular member is screwed back and forth within the first member the jaws will be opened and closed, a center post extending through the second tubular member and screw-threaded therein, a shank journaled in the upper end of the center post, an arm connected with said shank and extending outwardly therefrom, a block slidable on said arm, and a support carried on said block whereby when the center post is screwed outwardly said support will be forced against the back of the disk to brace the latter during the process of setting a jewel in the disk.

9. In a tool of the character described, the combination with a tubular member, of aI plurality of clamping jaws pivoted thereto, said jaws being adapted to grip the edge of a disk, means for causing' said jaws to grip said disk, a cent-ral supporting member within said tubular member, an arm carried by said supporting member and extending outwardly therefrom a block slidable on said arm, a support carried by said block whereby when the supporting member is moved outwardly, the said support will be forced against the back of the disk to brace the latter during the operation of setting a ewel in a disk.

l0. ln a tool of the character described, the combination with a handle, of clamping jaws pivoted thereon that are adapted to grasp the edge of a disk, means longitudinally movable through said handle for operating said jaws, a support within the handle, and means for moving said support through the handle against the back portion of the disk to brace the same during the operation of setting a jewel.

ln testimony whereof, I hereunto afliX my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK C. VIDMANN.

Witnesses J. B. HULL, A. J. HUDSON. 

